The present invention relates to an appliance, such as a refrigerator or freezer, having a housing and a door with a seal for sealing against a contact edge of the housing, the seal including an elastic gasket, and an adjustable door opening member having a lifting element which is in engagement with the gasket, and the door opening member being movably supported at an access opening of a handle which is connected to the door.
In a prior art refrigerator or freezer of this type, a handle equipped with a grip-through opening (i.e., a handle having a recess which accommodates a hand to facilitate opening of the door) is disposed at the door. A door opening member extends within the grip-through opening and includes an actuating latch. The actuating latch of the door opening member has a portion which engages with a region of a gasket which is fastened to the door. With the door closed, the gasket lies tightly against a contact edge of the housing of the appliance. When a user grips the handle to open the door, inserting fingers or thumb into the access opening enclosed by the handle, the displaceable door opening element is urged away from the door thereby moving the actuating latch connected therewith toward the handle. This causes the gasket to be lifted from the contact edge of the housing, thereby permitting admission of air into the interior of the housing of the appliance since air can flow in underneath the gasket to equalize the pressure between the atmosphere and the interior. The interior may have a pressure less than that of the ambient pressure due to cooling of ambient air which previously had entered the refrigerator or freezer. However, in other types of appliances which have a sealing gasket, movement of the door away from the appliance can cause flexing of the gasket itself prior to breaking of the seal, thereby equalizing the pressure of the air in the interior of the appliance with the ambient air pressure. Once the gasket seal is broken by operation of the door opening member, the pressure in the interior of the appliance is equalized, and therefore further pulling on the handle or on the door opening member requires only the force necessary to release the gasket from the contact edge. Even if in this structure the door opening member extends over the entire length of the handle, there still exists the danger that the actuating latch is not displaced sufficiently if the hand grips the door opening member at a location remote from the point of engagement of the latch. Due to necessary tolerances and unfavorable force relationships during operation of the door opening member, the door opening member and the actuating latch may be canted in their guides and the displacement of the actuating latch may be insufficient.